ActionAid Liberia Educates and Enhances the Digital Skills of over 100 youths to Promote Digital Safety, Commemorating 16 Days of activism

As part of activities marking the 2025 16 Days of Activism Against Gender-Based Violence, ActionAid Liberia conducted a one-day Digital Safety Awareness Session aimed at empowering young people to understand, prevent, and report digital violence. The event brought together more than 100 young girls, boys, and women from the surrounding community.

The training featured expert facilitators who offered practical guidance on navigating online spaces safely; Ms. Lisa Diasay, President of the Female Journalists Association of Liberia (FeJAL), spoke about the transformative potential of digital platforms for young women, while addressing the growing risks associated with digital engagement. Mr. Adolphus T. Gblorso, Local Leadership and Capacity Strengthening Manager at Catholic Relief Services Liberia, and Mr. D. Murvee Anderson, Office of the Representative of Bong County District #6, emphasized that digital safety is a collective responsibility.

During the one-day digital safety and awareness section held at ActionAid  Liberia’s head office,  these facilitators underscored the role of digital platforms, communities, and local leaders in fostering safe online environments and ensuring accountability for digital abuse.

Anderson also provided clarity on Liberia’s legal framework governing cyberbullying, online harassment, and digital violence. He made specific reference to the Cyber Crimes Act of 2021 that was passed by the house of Representative, concurred by the House of Senate and sent to the President for signing and printing into hand-bills. 

He addressed questions on how when the law gets finalized it will protect everyone and he identified critical gaps that need policy attention as well as how all Liberian citizens can make the most of the law. Particularly people see or find other people that have been victims of cyber bullying and or internet abuse. 

Held under the theme “Empowering Girls to Stay Safe and Protected Online,” the training enabled participants to better understand their digital rights, take preventive measures, and effectively report online abuse.

The session provided young women and men not just the opportunity to learn new things about digital safety, but also afforded them the space to share their stories, and encounter of some of the real-life experience they have face when it comes to digital abuse, or online violence among other things. 

Another resonating moment was the session that was considered the hard truth, where young people got to understand that if someone is being bullied or violated on the internet, whether through any of the various social media, but they went on sharing, commenting and giving such content reactions, they too have also supported or promoted digital violence against another person. 

“We need to communicate respectfully on the internet respectfully, we should not see social media as place where are parents are not present, so we should just talk anything and just post anything, because and no one has time for us.” Adolphus said. 

For the young people, this was eye-opening and lessons learn for them. The session also educated the participants of how-to facts check digital contents, perceived opportunities links and knowing some of the earning warning signs of scams on the internet among other things. 

Several recommendations were advanced by the young participants. Key among those were calls for regulars’ digital safety and awareness session to be conducted across schools, communities, and within universities. 

Speaking when he proxied for ActionAid’s Country Director, James Pewee, ActionAid Acting Programs and policy manager, reminded guests and participants that far too often, the internet has not become a major place of violence leaving countless numbers of people as victims. This he said needs collective efforts and more awareness. 

Pewee went on further to shed light on how internet or digital abuse or abuses are linked to trafficking, scams that cause people to lose valuables and a range of dubious activities that affects everything, but mostly affecting girls and women of often times lack the fights skills and awareness about how to go about it. 

He concluded by saying, in order to end cyber violence and digital abuses, awareness is pivotal and it must begin with everyone and in every space of life, bot thin schools, communities, and work places. 

ActionAid Liberia remains committed to creating safe digital and physical spaces for women and girls, and to strengthening community awareness around emerging forms of violence.